Xander struggled with the controls as an obnoxious beeping from the flight console and a flashing red light desperately tried to get his attention. While the plane had succeeded in getting him across the country, it seemed that an east coast to west coast flight was just outside of its flight range and the flying metal tube was heading towards an unwanted meeting with the ground due to a desperate need for fuel.

Flinching as the Leer jet shot over the top of the mountain, scaring the bejeezus out of a hiker he could just make out on the ridgeline as he skimmed it by a dozen or so feet, Xander scanned the horizon for anything that could be hit before unbuckling himself from the seat and rushing to the back.

He was really starting to hate this plan. Originally he was going to crash the plane into the ocean and parachute back down to the ground, unfortunately the plane was running out of fuel and the drug smugglers had lightened the load by unloading the parachutes so they could haul more drugs.

Snarling at the stupidity of the situation, Xander struggled through the bales of illicit narcotics into the back of the plane. Holding on to the shuddering airframe, Xander took a moment to slice through the bright orange box attached there before whispering a quick prayer concerning his healing abilities. Popping his fourth claw and staring at the considerably longer blade, while normal for him now, he still shuddered that he would ever consider having three claws pop out of his hand as normal. The three upper claws were serrated to increase the damage done to his opponents and reduce healing abilities, this one, however was a straight blade with an Americanized Tanto tip, precisely designed to increase heavy cutting and leverage.

Jabbing the longer blade into the wall of the cabin, Xander jerked down and opened up a gash in the side of the plane and was shocked at how quickly everything went to hell. In moments the plane seemed to disintegrate around him and he found himself falling to earth.

Rolling himself into a ball, Xander hoped for the best before the impact, and then darkness.

Logan couldn't help but laugh as he sat amongst the shattered steel and broken bodies of the biker gang. They had been surprisingly resistant to death, continuing the fight after severed limbs and broken bones would have put most species down. Pulling a cigar out of his pocket, he let the combination of tobacco and paper ignite on a slowly burning motorcycle before stomping the little flame out, it wouldn't do to get blown up after winning.

He was surprised when one of the bikers struggled to his feet, missing an arm and a good portion of his chest, yet still limping towards the mutant with murder in his eyes Logan was even more surprised when two heavy, three fifty-seven slugs exploded into the back of the biker's skull dropping it to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Looking behind him, Logan nodded at the injured member of the Ohio State Troopers as he limped his way up with his sidearm aimed at the corpse. After not so gently kicking it to assure himself it was deceased, the trooper returned his back-up weapon to its holster and slumped to the ground. Letting the man recover for a moment, Logan finally asked the required stupid question, "You okay, Bub?"

Smiling as the man flipped him the bird, Logan shrugged and took another puff of his cigar.

Groaning a bit in pain, Trooper Anthony Tollin lowered himself onto one of the overturned bikes and let out a sigh, "You do know that by state law I am required to bring you in for all this, as well as those 'concealed' knives you seem to have hidden up your sleeves," he said slowly before grunting in pain once more as his ribs attempted to explain their desire to never go through that again to him. "But considering my current state, I'm going to use my discretion to let you go with a warning." He shrugged before starting the slow process of getting back to his cruiser and calling for help. The man knew his savior would be long gone by the time he got back.

With a final chuckle, Logan walked back over to his bike and pulled it back upright. While this had been amusing, it wasn't getting him any closer to the kid.

Casey looked down from the second story window at the four students as Mister Peter yelled at them. He really didn't understand why he was mad, everyone else had gone out looking for Taz after he ran away, and they had just wanted to help.

Taking a deep breath, Casey decided to ask Tick-Tock for help. She had found the funny toy in the basement and had worked very hard to get it up and dancing again. Listening to the toy, Casey wondered how she could make everyone happy again before she hit on the perfect Idea.

After a few moments the ground started to rumble as Tick-Tock forced his way out of the ground.

Below, the five mutants stared in shock as the massive Sentinel unit forced its way out of the ground and rocketed into the sky heading west.

Behind it Casey excitedly jumped up and down. Tick-Tock would find Taz and bring him back, then everyone would be happy.

Deadpool exited the bar with a manic smile hidden under his mask. Winston had been very forthcoming this time and had even been nice enough to explain who exactly had sent the two bit assassins that had decided to play with him earlier. Skipping down the street, the mostly insane mercenary headed towards town hall because he so wanted to talk to Dick about this, but first he needed to make a stop at the nearby military base.

"Dick," He mumbled to himself as he walked away with a chuckle.

He was still snickering about the man's name when he approached city hall and decided to introduce himself, dropping his borrowed burden on top of a very nice limousine outside the government building, Wade chuckled to himself as he slid the massive fifty caliber M2 into place and fed the first belt into the weapon.

In the Mayor's office, Deputy Mayor Allen Finch was finishing up his day cleaning up the Mayor's recent… indiscretions. Not that he really blamed the Mayor, everyone in politics had a vice. For some it was underage hookers, while others embezzled funds, or engaged in illicit drugs. Mayor Wilkins, on the other hand had a bad habit of sacrificing his secretary to demonic forces; it wasn't Allen's place to comment.

He was busy humming a catchy tune to himself as he made a final notation to get the carpet replaced in the mayor's office when the first seven hundred and fifty gram round punched through the brick wall and clipped his shoulder, spinning him around. Then ten more rounds ripped through the general area he was occupying, in the next second, killing the junior politician and dropping his corpse to the ground. Around him the massive fifty caliber rounds continued to destroy everything in the mayor's office as the Ma-Deuce did exactly what it was designed for.

In less than a minute, the firing stopped as the belt fed weapon finally ran out of ammo. With a skip in his step, Deadpool danced down the street. Hopefully now he wouldn't have anymore distractions in killing the Rosenberg person.

Behind him, Mayor Richard Wilkins looked out through the tinted windows of the limousine at the destruction his office had suffered at the hands of the mercenary and slowly set his coffee down. With a sigh, the undisputed ruler of Sunnydale leaned back in his seat and massaged his temples as a headache pounded behind his eyes. It was beginning to look like he may actually have to flood the streets with blood just to get everything back under control. Maybe his old friend would be able to help.

Picking up the phone Wilkins dialed a number that technically didn't exist and waited as the buzz on the other end informed him that the signal had gone through. It was several long moments before the line was picked up, "Essex industries, how may I direct your call."

Natasha glared at the agent standing in front of her for a handful of seconds after he finished giving his report, "Just to clarify, Agent Finn; you illegally hacked into secured government systems, lost your entire team to hostile actions, were engaged by several assassins, lost a safe house and brought a civilian into one of the most confidential safe rooms in the world." Natasha stared as the young agent nodded in confirmation, "And after violating enough security procedures to have you shot, you discovered the civilian was the equivalent of a mutant combat specialist with extreme claustrophobic and control issues… and you planned to handle this by giving her a Swedish message?" the Black Widow asked in a chilled voice as the young agent began to look nervous.

"Yes ma'am," Riley said stiffly as he went over the past day in his mind and decided that, despite the glares he was currently receiving from his superior, he would most likely do the same thing again. "I believe the information I retrieved is of primary importance at the moment, it seems Richard Wilkins is directly responsible for the dimensional breech in this area and has spent the last hundred years protecting it from being discovered." The Shield Lieutenant explained before taking a deep breath, "It looks like he has been using it to prepare for a major event of some sort and the ball may be dropping soon."

Natasha spent a moment searching the soldiers face for any hint of deception, "How soon?" she finally asked as her mind started going over possible responses.

"Something big in the next couple days, final event in a little over three month's time," Riley explained before moving on to the big issue. "Rumblings from the underground are saying something about an 'Ascension' event. Soon after discovering this, I was attacked by an assassin wearing this," he said as he dropped the ring onto the table.

Electra was heading for the exit of the school when a short, goblin-like man rounded the corner. She would almost call him troll-like, but he was far too short for such a title. Glaring at the sneering little rat, Electra blinked as a memory surfaced from her past, a young A.I.M agent, Rufus Snyder had been contracted for termination before the rat-like little man had disappeared from the world at large.

Snyder had just started his rant against improper dress in his school when he finally really looked at the young woman's face, and froze.

While not at the top of the food chain in A.I.M., he had worked on enough projects in his time to make him a target, so he had wisely studied the most likely assassins to be sent after him. He knew, of course, that the likes of Electra Natchios and the Black Widow were never really going to come after him, he had still found it… rewarding to study their files and pictures for hours on end.

Electra became aware of exactly when the older man recognized her and in a moment he went from a rat-like bully to something far colder and sinister, as his hand moved towards the inside of his jacket. Electra stepped forward and launched a kick towards the man's chin as she cursed herself for carrying light.

Jumping back from the kick, Snyder tried desperately to open up some distance between himself and the red clad assassin. Jerking the small machine pistol from its holster, Rufus sprayed a burst in the direction of Electra; not that he actually expected to hit her but it would hopefully make her pause, he only needed a few seconds and he would have a chance.

Diving around a corner, he ignored the sharp sound as several lethal chunks of metal embedded themselves in the wall behind him and shoved past a couple of students. He sprinted down the empty hallway, taking only a moment to jerk the fire alarm down as he rushed past, Snyder grinned as the hallway started to rapidly fill with slightly panicked students.

Shoving the weapon back under his jacket, Snyder smiled as he made it outside and triggered the auto start on his car. He cursed whoever had brought that particular bitch to Sunnydale, he knew she hadn't been there for him or he would have never seen her coming, this had just been an unfortunate turn of events.

Standing at the top of the Sunnydale high steps, Electra watched as the small Porsche roared out of the parking lot before she turned her glare at the wide eyed students that were filing past.

With a silent snarl, she turned and disappeared into the growing crowd. It seemed she had a loose end to tie up before she could get to the Rosenberg woman.

Behind her, a shocked Faith stared after the retreating killer. She had just gotten over the psycho with the sword from earlier and was showing up, as per Giles' order, to see about getting a new place to crash when she had almost been run over by Snyder as the red Dominatrix queen had chased him down.

Turning towards the still gaping Willow, Faith finally grabbed the redhead by the hand and pulled her toward the library. They really needed some answers.

Moving through the dark, abandoned building, Victor made sure his steps fell softly as he hunted his opponent, his prey. The strange Porcupine man had proven an agile and crafty foe and Victor's coat had gathered several more holes to it thanks to the ambushes the man had sprung on him. Gliding into the next room, Victor made sure to check the area for his opponent carefully before sniffing again.

He had been following Porky through the abandoned buildings that dominated this area of Sunnydale for the last half an hour without a single sighting, but his scent remained as a clear path. Following it to the exit, the feral mutant checked the surrounding buildings for his attacker before following the trail out.

Directly above him, Ra'goth the hunter watched his prey move out of the protection of the buildings. This one was much harder to kill than most of his targets and had proven quite capable of minimizing the Sa'dren demon's chances at a clean kill. Even the lucky soldier from the day before had not proven as interesting as this one… Silently calculating the distance, Ra'goth leapt from the top of the building and curled into a ball as he plummeted towards the yellow haired man below. While he hated getting close to his kills, he doubted he could do enough damage from a distance to bring down his target before another team arrived.

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